What a crazy few hours in the saga of Abu Qatada and his continued presence in the UK. Yesterday afternoon, Britain’s five top Law Lords pronounced unanimously that there was no reason under existing law that Qatada could not be returned to the country of his birth, Jordan. That would have seemed to signal an end to the long legal fight over his right to stay in the UK rather than return home, but his legal team immediately announced an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. This will pile yet another multi-million pound legal bill on the taxpayers and their apparently bottomless pockets. Qatada preaches the “duty” of all Muslims to do all in their power to bring about the end of the UK, as well as the US and many other non-Muslim countries, but he will do anything he can to stay here. The fact that he may face torture, possibly even execution, once back in Jordan is of little consequence. He is not a persecuted opposition politician from a nation controlled by a dictatorial regime, he has been convicted of terrorism and is a clear supporter of violent action against civilians. If you are caught carrying even small quantities of low grade drugs, such as cannabis, in many East-Asian countries, you may well find yourself facing a sentence that would seem extremely Draconian by western standards. However, in these cases, there is no “get-out-of jail-free card” and you will have to accept your punishment under the local law. If the country Qatada has been convicted in has punishments, that may be regarded as harsh by the west, on its statutes as the penalty for the crimes he has been convicted of, we should respect their judicial processes and return him to face sentence. He is an escaped fugitive and until we return him we are harbouring an escaped fugitive!
This morning we awake to the news that the European Court of Human Rights has decided to award Abu Qatada £2500 in compensation for violations of his human rights. Yet again, this will come from taxpayers pockets . He chose to preach hatred and violence, the other 60 million or so people in the UK did not choose to live in fear of the actions he encouraged others to carry out. Neither did we choose to have our taxes spent on his lengthy and costly presence in the UK, the cost of feeding and housing him nor the enormous cost of the legal battles over his removal to Jordan. If his human rights were violated by his admittedly clumsily handled incarceration, surely all of our human rights to a peaceful, secure existence are violated every time he speaks and by his very presence in the UK. Will the European Court of Human Rights consider awarding compensation to each and every individual in the West who lives in an increased level of fear due to Qatada’s pronouncements?
